The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Urban Aboriginal Self- Determination in Canada: A Preliminary Assessment

Yale Belanger

Abstract

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) implicitly recognizes urban Indigenous self-determination and acknowledges collective and individual Indigenous rights. This essay examines the tensions associated with the Declaration’s acknowledged Indigenous individual choice to determine political affiliation with its recognition of Indigenous collective self-determination. The purpose is to expose the complexities inherent when attempting to reconcile the Declaration with First Nations and urban Aboriginal political aspirations, Canadian court decisions, federal Indian policies, and the protective mechanisms of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The author cautions that additional studies are required probing these and other issues prior to First Nation, Aboriginal, and Canadian political leaders venturing forward in their desires to implement and activate the Declaration’s provisions to promote Indigenous community development.